Tsingtao Pearl Visitors Center

Nestled in a mountain meadow surrounded by rocky outcroppings and narrow bands of farmed terraces in coastal China, the visitor center highlights the beauty of the site, serving as a welcome portal to this growing community development while using ordinary Canadian wood in a notable way. Fast + Epp worked collaboratively with the designbuilder, StructureCraft, and the Architect, BCJ, to develop a method of parcel construction, allowing complex components and connections to be designed and fabricated in Canada, then be assembled by local crews.

The design team developed 39 novel solidlaminated wood roof panels to be fabricated on site using ordinary lumber. Concurrently, 93 gluelaminated wood columns of varying length were individually milled and fitted with custom universal connectors, and shipped to China. Extensive prefabrication and 3D modelling ensured success, the building was wholly designed and constructed in just eight months.